Skype progress
Writing about Skype is kinda pointless at the moment, because half of information is closed and other half is nonexistent.
We are doing a rewrite of codebase using Qt4.
So far we have some basic contact list stuff, with contact cards etc. And! You can switch your online status.
So it’s almost a full fledged client here, we’re about to ship it soon.
Just kidding.
I cannot say I’m satisfied with Qt4 MV model. It puts a lot of barriers, but otoh we might be using it wrongly yet 
On the other hand, I’m rather satisfied with sigc++ signals — it works pretty well, if only missing a few nice points present in sigslot, but I can live with that.
People in closed beta – stay tuned, we’re gonna show you something Real Soon Now(tm).
Take care.
Great news that there’s more news) Keep going, Linux community waits for it.
// few hours ago i was thinking that Skype for Linux development was stopped ’cause the sole developer got busy in high scholl now
I’m just wondering, why don’t you have a single codebase for the Linux and Windows versions? After all, Qt is platform independent. This would save you quite some development costs and the linux version would look like the windows version.
What’s the point in writing everything two times?
Greetings
ketjow
Video!
Every poll says that the most important feature for linux skype users is video – could you state what’s the level of developing this functionality?
I heard GTK is good this time of the year
Is 1.4 going to have SMS sending functionality? I am curious why that wasn’t included with 1.3, I suppose it’s not as complex to implement as video for example, which has a completely different API in Linux…
GKT is good.
VIDEO – SMS and other
Yes – why not keep on going with Qt 3.x and adding all features?
I hope we will see SkypeSMS in the Linux version soon. Is it not important to Skype to sell this service as well?
Too bad Skype is closed-source. I think there are many people who would develope Skype eagerly.
vkotal, i don’t think so. SIP technology is a great alternative, mostly opensource. Sowhat? noone wants to develop a good client , or optimize existing one. An win98-like face, distorted sound and a laggy video – that is opensource progress on SIP for last years.
And do you think that lazy opensource coders will make Skype better? Lol.
How can I join the closed beta program?
Hey, i’d like to join too
QT4? How many linux distributions include it? This is crazy.
Instead of working only on UI, what about “new” exciting features? (video, sms, skypecasts, …).
Before all major distributions include proper Qt4 packages (which is going to happen Q1 2007 anyway), the Qt4 library will be statically linked, so you won’t need to bother about it.
The closed beta – we are not accepting more beta testers at this moment, as previous experince show that many people just want to grab whatever is latest and do not show much commitment to the testing and debugging process. While I can perfectly understand this, the organizational overhead is simply too big.
The video, sms and all other nifty features will be available in the Linux client Real Soon Now(tm), but I cannot make a promise at this stage – we’re still rewriting parts of core.
Rewrite was necessary as the two-years-old codebase has grown totally unmaintanable.
*sigh* Waiting… waiting… waiting…
Now that Adobe fiiiiiiiinally released a Flash 9 player for linux (albeit buggy with a few halting probs) it seems the only app I use regularly that hasn’t caught up is Skype.
With respect to video – it seems Adobe figured out a way to do it in linux without too many problems.
I’m also happy to hear that there’s something going on
I also like QT4 As far for the distro-support – debian and ubuntu have it, fedora also does…
NO SBAMPATI NO SKYPE
rafanto.blosgspot.com
Please also consider adding call forwarding capability. Currently there is no way (not even from skype.com website) to change your call forwarding numbers, unless you use the WinXP client.
should i repeat it for like 1.000.000th time? VIDEOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
make support for VIDEO!!!
I am looking forward for the latest version. Looking forward for the video.
Just Open sources skype, at least the Linux version, and let the thousands of developers that are waiting to help you get onboard and actually start catching up to skype for windows!
What will it take for Skype to do that! I, for one, as a Skype user, demand to know!
I’m so glad to hear you are working on new version of Skype for Linux. One of the few things for which I have to switch between LInux and Windows is the Skype Video.
video people ,,, skype developers,,,we need good video support,,,we know u can do it,,,linux users need compatibility between any platform runing skype
thanks
I’d prefer some efforts going into providing a generic, multiplatform library from which to build applications on. Not a bloated, GUI dependent, buggy, integrated full fledged client application (well, do that too, but at least make sure the library is independent from it).
I’d really like such a library for the MIPS platform so it can be plugged in e.g. asterisk.
IMO Skype would be a lot better off with opening their protocols. But that’s probably never going to happen.
I wonder why Skype for Linux doesn’t have video support yet. V4L is so easy to use I could help the project. If the coordinator is interested, please contact me.
Is there any way to get a 64-bit (.x86_64) version of the FC build? Any plans to add support for it?
ghm, i was wondering, maybe it isnt hard to enable the “mood” of the user in linux-skype? i mean that baloon that are changed very offen of my friends? it is shown in users info, and i dont think this would be too much of a problem to show it in lets say, chat free space…
anyways good work here, keep it up:)
almost two months passed since the last official statement.
Any chance to tell when the new version will be available for testing?
We are waiting…we are anxiously
New version should be available for testing rather soon.
The porting goes well and we’re in pretty good shape with regard to how much of original functionality is there. It is not ready for a show yet, tho. Patience.
Is there any possibility for a native 64-bit Skype? It would come in handy and I wonder how much effort it is.
sdemon-nnm, seems like you are with linux on “you” becouse it doesnt look like a win98 app to me… And of course the video, when the video option will be aviable?
Hello,
just asking when will be a new version for Linux available? Since I changed my OS from Win to Debian I’m somehow disappointed that Skype for Linux offers far less functions than the Win version. I really like Skype, but when I saw Skype for Linux for the first time it was… well…
May we expect an open beta anytime soon?
No. Closed betas are out every day now, but it is still not usable for general public. I will post an update on matter of things here soon.
Skype developers may have fixed this already but in 1.3, it seems that some of the pthreads are created FIFO and do not relinquish the CPU easily…
This is really annoying on Ubuntu where the created user account is a member of the admin group (hence FIFO threads can be created).
I have just posted a work-around at https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Skype and do hope that the next version will not have the same issue.
Anyway, keep up the good work guys!
i don’t really understand. Can you state clearly if the next version of Skype will have video?
We are a small consulting firm that have switched to a Linux environment recently. We also want to switch use of our land phones over to Skype as much as possible. Lack of Linux video is currently a stumbling block. We wanted to settle on a video conference platform that we in turn could convince clients to adopt. I am nervous about promoting Skype until I am sure a Linux video version is coming soon. Should we promote Skype or should we look for some other solution to our problem?
Skype for Linux with Video is coming this year 100%.
Hello Berkus,
can you go a litte more into detail about the release date? I know this question is boring, but “this year” can be very long and a lot of Linux users are waiting for Skype with Video support.
wow I am glad to hear that we will have video on Skype Linux version. There is of course one very important thing here. Most of the web cams don’t work with Linux and users need to tweak things around to get their web cams working. It would be absolutely great to guide people (users) to buy the right web cams for their Linux box. I suggest once you finalized the version 1.4, dedicate a section to web cams, different brands, etc I am sure Skype has this power to force hardware vendors to write Linux drivers for Linux. Linux needs your help to kick some asses.
What do you think folks ?
One more thing, is it possible to start developing a tool bar for Firefox under Linux too ? I found your tool bar absolutely amazing, specially when it automatically find the telephone numbers, etc
We will certainly advice which webcams are proven to work best and with least hassle.
The toolbar – I have had this in my plans for almost two years already, unfortunately Linux side was lacking manpower until recently. I have firefox and konqueror toolbars in my mind (and existing firefox toolbar for windows should be relatively easy to port to linux, in theory).
Hope we’ll see it soon.
Hi Berkus,
Is Ekiga (http://www.ekiga.org) a temporal solution in the meantime you guys have vskype for Linux ready? I am wondering if you guys would also support SIP protocols some day.
I do not want to install other software but I am also tired switching to windows just to make a video call which I can either do with MS or Yahoo messenger at Gates land.
release vskype for Linux please!
Hello Berkus,
Back in February you made the following comment….”Skype for Linux with Video is coming this year 100%.”
Now that we are over six months into the year, is there any update to that comment?
We are trying to run a business here and the fact that Skype has no video yet is causing us some grief. We are getting pressure from clients to consider alternatives.
> Back in February you made the following comment….”Skype for Linux with Video is coming this year 100%.”
> Now that we are over six months into the year, is there any update to that comment?
No changes to this statement.